"Have to see where I am in my life"- Novak Djokovic addresses potential final run in China amid dwindling schedule; expresses desire to keep competing

Novak Djokovic recently gave his thoughts on prolonging his career for a few more. Before the ongoing fortnight at the Shanghai Masters, the Serb hadn't flown to China since his triumph at the Masters 1000 event in 2018. However, he was admittedly keen on playing at the tournament in 2025 again, provided he is physically and mentally healthy.

The four-time Shanghai Open champion has enjoyed a good campaign at the Masters 1000 event so far this year. Having received a first-round bye, the fourth seed downed USA's Alex Michelsen in two tight sets in his opener before beating 28th-seeded Flavio Cobolli for the loss of just three games to reach the fourth round.

During his press conference following his third-round win on Tuesday (October 8), Novak Djokovic was probed on his inclination towards economizing his schedule; the 24-time Major winner has prioritized a few big tournaments over others in the last few years, which also led to him missing the last two editions of the Shanghai Masters.

In response, Djokovic first professed his admiration for China, owing to the culture and his success in Shanghai as well as in Beijing, where he has won six titles. The 37-year-old then insisted that he would love to make the trip to the country next year, but he did add that it would depend on his schedule and physical conditioning.

"I always had tremendous success, both Beijing and Shanghai. It is definitely due to incredible love and respect and support I'm getting from the Chinese people," Novak Djokovic told the media in Shanghai. "So, my connection is very profound, and five years has been a very long period of not coming to China, so I will do my best to come back next year."

"I don't know what next year brings in terms of my schedule and so forth. I know that I still want to keep playing. I have to see where I am in my life with my body and everything, but I still have plans to go ahead, you know, as previous years, prioritizing the biggest events, but then I still would like to make my annual trip to China, at least for one tournament, because of the incredible energy and love I feel here," the Serb added.

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Novak Djokovic on 2024 Shanghai Masters campaign: "I'm fresh, happy to play every day for as long as it takes"

Novak Djokovic serves at Shanghai Masters 2024

Novak Djokovic will face unseeded Roman Safiullin in his Round-of-16 match later on Wednesday. The Serb told the ATP Tour in the aftermath of his third-round victory that since he had played a limited schedule this year, he was "fresh" for the Shanghai Masters.

He also expressed confidence in his game while sparing a word for his opponent Flavio Cobolli, who he felt couldn't bring his best to the court during their bout.

"From the beginning I had a clear game plan of what I needed to do, staying aggressive and trying to use every short ball to take the initiative in the point. Cobolli was evidently exhausted after last night’s match," Djokovic said. "I think that has taken a toll, physically, on him today. I haven’t played too many matches, I think the positive in that is that I’m fresh, so I am happy to play every day [for] as long as it takes."

Djokovic has accumulated a 34-8 win/loss record on the men's tour so far this year. The World No. 4's best result came at the Paris Olympics, where he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the men's singles final to win his first-ever gold medal.

The Serb will face Roman Safiullin in the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters, with the winner facing either ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov or Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals.